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Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

Burrard Inlet restoration program set to breathe life back into an industrialized body of water

In 2007 a bizarre oil spill saw a 12-metre geyser of crude oil sprayed over houses, roads, streams and sewers. More than 220,000 litres of oil escaped and 70,000 litres reached Burrard Inlet. Under a creative sentencing arrangement, Kinder Morgan and two contractors responsible each agreed to pay $149,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. The first of seven projects using those funds is getting under way.

The Burrard Inlet Restoration Pilot Program is a rare ray of light from a dark chapter in the history of this highly industrialized body of water.

In 2007, a bizarre oil spill saw a 12-metre geyser of crude oil sprayed over houses, roads, streams and sewers. More than 220,000 litres of oil escaped and 70,000 litres reached Burrard Inlet.

Under a creative sentencing arrangement, Kinder Morgan and two contractors responsible each agreed to pay $149,000 to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation. The first of seven projects using those funds is getting underway.

“We have that $447,000 commitment and our goal is to match that three-to-one with funds from government and project proponents,” said Brian Springinotic, CEO of the foundation. “We are on our way to exceeding that goal.”

The first of seven restoration projects to break ground, the 1.2-hectare MacKay Creek estuary is an unprecedented collaboration between two large industrial tenants of the port — Northwest Hydraulics and Seaspan — as well as the Squamish Nation, the City of North Vancouver, Living Rivers, BCIT and Bodwell International School, which is built on the banks of the creek.

Squamish First Nation will undertake restoration of the Mosquito Creek estuary, now that the invasive species upriver have been removed, said Randall Lewis, an environmental adviser for Squamish First Nation.

“Without the political will shown by the City of North Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, the port and the regional district and the investment of industry, such as Seaspan, none of this gets done,” Lewis said. “Everybody has their own jurisdiction and we need get out of those little sandboxes to work together.”

Successful applicants to the pilot program were given $5,000 planning grants to create science-based restoration plans and build relationships with all the players from government and private enterprise, said Springinotic.

“When you look at old aerial photos of Burrard Inlet you can see that these estuaries were once large and vibrant,” he said.

But the lazy pools, salt marshes and natural plant cover that fish use to acclimate on their journey to salt water from salmonid spawning and rearing creeks are all but gone. Mosquito Creek is little more than a large ditch surrounded by industry built on acres of fill. Beaver Creek is an outfall that is impossible for fish to scale.

“About 95 per cent of the estuary at MacKay Creek is gone, hemmed in by heavy industry and transportation corridors,” said Ken Ashley, director of BCIT’s Rivers Institute. “Now, what you are going to see at all these sites is industry and natural ecosystems coexisting, built on nature’s template.”

MacKay Creek estuary

The MacKay Creek estuary will be restored in partnership with Northwest Hydraulics and Seaspan, which has already removed the large concrete weir from the site. Natural vegetation and wood waste will be installed to create a salt marsh along with osprey nesting platforms and bat houses. A new stream bed will improve habitat for coastal cutthroat and rainbow trout.

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek — the outlet for Stanley Park’s Beaver Lake — is one of Vancouver’s historic salmon-bearing streams. The Stanley Park Ecological Society, Vancouver park board and BCIT are partnering to create a staircase-like fish ladder that will improve access for spawning salmon from Burrard Inlet to the lake, which is slated to be dredged.

Mosquito Creek estuary

Squamish Nation will lead the restoration of the Mosquito Creek estuary, most of which was filled in for industrial uses over the decades. Invasive species have been removed from the area inland from the mouth of the creek and natural vegetation will be reintroduced to the tidal estuary to improve habitat for cutthroat and rainbow trout.

Lynn Creek estuary

The BCIT Rivers Institute Ecological Restoration degree program will use a multi-year overhaul of the Lynn Creek estuary as a real-world lab for students, with the goal of recreating a naturally functioning ecosystem for cutthroat trout, steelhead and Pacific Salmon. The project will recreate a meandering creek bed with large wood and vegetation.

Renfrew Creek will be returned to the surface and daylight as part of this restoration project at New Brighton Park, a rare green space in an otherwise industrial landscape. BCIT Living Rivers, the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver park board will create a new fish-friendly stream and pools as a central element of the park. The city has already separated the creek from the storm sewer system.

Metro Vancouver and BCIT will undertake restoration of salmonid rearing habitat, adding fallen trees, vegetation and pools in the Seymour River estuary, with financial support from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The project was planned by students from BCIT’s Rivers Institute.

The B.C. Conservation Foundation will lead the development of the rehabilitation plan for the Roche Point Creek estuary, which has been affected by residential and golf course development. A large former shipyard is being removed and redeveloped as a residential complex that will rebuild the shoreline and estuary, plus provide access to the upper stream for fish under the Dollarton Highway.

Most of the Mosquito Creek estuary was filled in for industrial uses over the decades. Invasive species have been removed from the area inland from the mouth of the creek and natural vegetation will be reintroduced to the tidal estuary to improve habitat for cutthroat and rainbow trout.

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